Hook for garment hangers



June 12, 1951 G. BARON 1 HOOK FOR GARMENT HANGERS Filed April 20, 1949 INVENTOR.

I BY 7 ii Ziorng Paten'ted June 12, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.-

This invention relates to garment hangers, and particularly to means by which the hanger will be securely and safely supported upon a hanger bar or rod.

Most garmenthangers, as known at the present time, are provided with a suspension hook by which the hanger and the garment thereon are supported from a rod or bar in a closet, or in stores upon such a rod forming the top of a suitable display rack. The hook of the hanger is so shaped that the same often swings on the rod or bar to such an extent as to permit the hook of the hanger to become disengaged from the rod or bar and the hanger and the garment thereon to fall to the floor, thus often causing the garment, and particularly when of a lighter color, to become soiled or damaged. Thi is especially true when the racks are crowded with garments, and the attempt to insert a garment between others on the rack, and place the hook of the hanger in engagement with the bar, very often results in the dislodgement of a number of hangers and garments which fall to the floor as above described.

The present invention therefore has for its primary object the provision of a garment hanger in which a hook is utilized that is provided with a looking or latching means by which the hook, when engaged with the supporting bar or rod, becomes attached thereto in such a manner that a release of the hook from the rod or bar is attained only by manual freeing of a latch member forming a part of the suspension hook structure of the hanger.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a latching means which becomes automatically effective by the mere act of placing the hanger on the supporting bar in the conventional manner, namely, by placing the hook over the'bar.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means of the above character which can be very readily and inexpensively made in quantity, which does not present projecting parts or elements likely to interfere with the normal use of the hanger; which can be applied to garment hangers of many kinds, and which will enable the garments placed on the hangers to be supported with assurance and safety.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a garment hanger having a suspension hook adapted to be placed over a conventional cylindrical supporting rod or bar, said hook being provided with a pivoted latch member having a nose portion normally extended beyond the end of the hook to thereby at least partially close the entrance to the hook. Said nose portion is held in the above-mentioned hook-closing position solely by gravity and thus will be automatically raised or elevated when it is passed over the surface of the rod or supporting bar, enabling the bar to enter Within the hook and be confined therein asthe nose portion again descends by gravity to its closed position. The hook will therefore, as long as the latch i in closed position, confine the supporting bar within it and the hanger will be securely and safely held on the bar until manual force is employed to raise the latch and permit the hook to be lifted off the bar.

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will hereinafter appear and be set forth in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a gar: ment hanger, and particularly the suspension hook thereof, showing the improvements; Fig, 2 is a view looking from the right of Fig. 1; Fig, 3 is a side view of the suspension device showing the same being opened by the passage of the supporting bar into the hook; Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of the pivoted latch member, and Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the hook with the latch removed therefrom.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the supporting bar of the hanger. The same may be composed of wood, plastic material, of metal or may be of the conventional wire form. Rising from the hanger bar I is a suspension hook which includes the shank portion 2 and the curved hook portion 5. The hook is formed of two side bars 3 and 4 which are splayed outwardly as at 5 a shortdistance above the top of the supporting bar I as clearly seen in Fig. 2. In the hook portion 5, the two bars 3 and 4 are thus spaced apart and are connected integrally at the forward end or nose of the hook by the loop 1. The spaced portions of the hook are also connected by cross bars shown respectively at 8 and 9, that shown at 8 being located at the rear of the hook, while that shown at 9 is located substantially close to the forward end or nose I of the hook.

The cross member 8 acts as a pivot pin for a gravity-controlled, pivoted latch member shown at IS, the same being formed with a loop l3 which extends around the cross member 8, thereby pivotally attaching the latch member l9 to the hook 6 in the manner clearly shown in the drawings. Said latch member is provided with a hook portion l9 having a forward end or nose 1 l preferably but not necessarily formed with a rounded terminal or ball 12. The latch member is sharply bent as indicated at M to provide a rearward extension or arm :5 constituting a finger piece for opening the latch member in a manner to be described. To facilitate the finger engagement of the finger-piece 15, the free end of the same is formed with a loop or similar enlargement as shown at 16.

From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readily understood. The pivot 8 for the latch member is is so located and the latch member so balanced thereon, that the front end or nose ll of the latch member normally tends to descend solely by gravity to its closed position, or that shown in Fig. 1. The descent of the latch member is limited by the impingement of the forward part of the hook portion thereof against the front cross bar 9, as will be seen in Fig. l, the front portion of the hook of the latch member being guided downwardly between said cross bar 9 and the loop portion 1 of the hook 6. The ball shaped end 12 may, if necessary, serve as a weight to facilitate the gravitational descent of the nose I I of the hook portion to closed position. When in its closed position, the latch member tends to at least partially close the entrance to the hook 5 as will be clearly apparent.

When it is desired to place the hanger in posi tion on the conventional supporting bar found in closets and on racks, such bars being usually of cylindrical form, the suspension hook is pushed against the bar, shown at H, to bring the ballshaped end 12 of the latch against the cylindrical surface of the bar, and said surface, acting as a cam, tends to raise the latch 19 as clearly shown in Fig. 3 to permit the bar H to pass under the latch member and enter within the hook 5 and thereby reach the confined position substantially as shown in Fig. 1. When the bar ll passes under the end 12 of the latch member and enters the hook S, the latch member will then descend by gravity into its closed or norma] position, shown in Fig. 1, so that the bar H will then be confined within the hook and retained therein indefinitely and prevented from being accidentally displaced. It will thus be noted that by merely pressing the end H of the latch against the bar [7, the hook of the hanger will be at once engaged with the bar I! and the bar will be locked within the hook.

When it is desired to remove the hanger from the supporting bar H, the latch member 18 is manually raised to open position, or that shown in Fig. 3. This is done by depressing the fingerpiece l5, causing the same to descend in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1. This elevates the nose I! of the latch member to the required extent to permit the supportin bar to pass beneath it and thus be freed from the hook.

It will be noted that the finger-piece I5 is located well above the top of the hanger bar I and is in a position where clothing supported on the hanger bar will not interfere with the engagement and manipulation of the finger-piece. It will be further noted that all of the operative portions of the suspension device may be composed of wire and thus the device can be very economically fabricated and sold, yet at the same time a device is produced which is strong, trouble-free and can be readily operated and used. While these parts of the device are shown as being composed of wire, it will be apparent that the same may be also made of sheet metal or other materials and may be embodied in various types of hangers, dress and trouser supports and other suspension devices intended to be supported from a bar or like supporting element.

The structure of the suspension device is such that supporting bars of varying diameter may be readily accommodated in the hook since the hook and latch member are so shaped and arranged as to be not critical as to the diameter of the bar accommodated within them.

While I' have shown one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. A hook having a shank and a curved portion extending substantially 280 degrees from said shank to provide an opening therebetween, said shank and curved portion comprising parallel spaced bars joined at their forward ends, a cross bar connecting the said parallel bars at the side opposite theopen end of the hook, a latch member pivoted to said cross bar and situated above said curved portion of said hook, said latch member having a curved portion, a finger piece and a nose portion, said curved portion of the latch member extending substantially 280 degrees from said finger piece, said nose portion being adapted to pass downwardly between the said parallel spaced bars below the free end of said hook and by gravity maintain said latch member at a constant spaced relation to said curved portion of said hook corresponding to the distance between said nose portion and the top portion of said shank, the said finger piece extending outwardly from the curved portion of the latch member being adapted to operate the latch member from a closed to an open position.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1 and including a cross bar adjacent the free end of the hook adapted to limit the downward movement of the latch member.

GEORGE BARON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 361,524 Jones Apr. 18, 1887 628,619 Alwood July 11, 1899 842,970 Parsons Feb. 2, 1907 1,062,457 Hadley May 20, 1913 1,524,844 Scott et a1 Feb. 3, 1925 2,164,941 Rentchler July 4, 1939 2,454,698 Rippler Nov. 23, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,018 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1892 

